There’s no real reason why there’s yet to be a great, good, or arguably even a solid film adaptation of a video game. In fact, it’s frankly baffling that we’ve yet to see even one exception just to prove the rule. Sure, there are hurdles to overcome to make a great game work in a fundamentally different medium, but they can’t be insurmountable and surely it’s only a matter of time before someone gets it right? One film that looks like it has that potential is DreamWorks’ “Need For Speed,” which can surely play fast and loose with the narrative, and already has some great talent attached.
With a script from George and John Gatins, Scott Waugh attached as director (who actually put together some pretty decent action in “Act of Valor”) and Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper and Imogen Poots all coming along for the ride, we were already cautiously optimistic about this one. Well, a few more names have been added to the mix now, including hip-hop artist Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi, and they’ve done nothing to dampen that optimism. Kid Cudi has been making moves into acting since joining the cast of “How to Make it in America” in 2010, and it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise as the rapper apparently studied film before deciding to pursue a career in music.
Also coming on board are Ramon Rodriguez (who played Renaldo on “The Wire” and Bosley in the recent “Charlie’s Angels” reboot), Rami Malek (who appeared in the unlikely trio of “Battleship,” 'Breaking Dawn – Part 2' and “The Master” last year) and Harrison Gilbertson (a 19-year-old Australian actor). Aaron Paul will take the lead role in the pic as a local street racer (naturally) who joins a New York-to-Los Angeles road race as he seeks revenge after being framed for the death of a friend. We see absolutely no reason why this can’t be a great action movie when it hits screens, which it's currently expected to do on February 7th next year. [THR]